


The Bird Man

by faerierequiem



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-22 10:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21300881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faerierequiem/pseuds/faerierequiem
Summary: Roah + ‘i keep overhearing you make fun of me so i finally try to stand up for myself and it actually had nothing to do with me at all i’m sorry i never meant for this to happen’ au
Relationships: Noah Czerny & Ronan Lynch, Noah Czerny/Ronan Lynch
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	The Bird Man

**Author's Note:**

> i was looking through a document of roah fics i'd written and saw this one, which i'd never posted up before. i think i meant to write more to it, which is probably why i never did, but i completely forget now what i planned to do and it reads as a pretty complete fic to me, so i figured i might as well post this up. (i swear my writing has improved since this xP) please enjoy!

The sound of laughter caught Ronan’s attention. He’d been about to check his phone for the time and see how long he’d been waiting for Gansey, which—when he thought about it—was sort of ludicrous because usually it was _him_ who was late, but then the loud laughing caused him to turn his head.

Towards the center of the lawn, a group of boys were lazing around on the grass, some with their heads thrown back as their laughter blasted out from their mouths.

One of the boys paused in his laughter. His eyes glowed brighter than his pale hair as he eagerly exclaimed, “We should call him ‘the Bird Man’!”

This caused the other boys to laugh even harder.

“Isn’t it perfect?” the pale-haired boy asked. “He loves birds so much! One time he even brought the bird in to class and he spent the entire hour cooing over it and feeding it seeds.”

“I remember that day!” another one of the boys snorted. “That was so hilarious! And he even named the bird some weird name.”

“What is it?” a third boy asked.

“I can’t really remember, but it was like—”

“Ronan!”

Ronan snapped away from the conversation. Glancing away from the group of Aglionby boys, he saw Gansey half-walking, half-jogging up to him.

“Sorry for making you wait,” Gansey apologized. “Let’s get going.”

Distracted, Ronan listened back in on the Bird Man conversation, but it had now turned back to nothing but boisterous laughter.

“Ronan?”

“I heard you,” Ronan said, focusing back on Gansey. As Gansey led the way to the parking lot, Ronan didn’t spare another glance over his shoulder.

* * *

Ronan forgot about the Bird Man conversation until the following week when he saw the pale-haired boy standing in the hallway during break with another Aglionby student.

Pale-haired boy was smiling as he listened to the other boy go on about something.

_It’s probably something stupid,_ Ronan thought to himself, but interest grew in him and he slowed his steps as he neared closer.

The boy’s hushed words were excited, “…I saw it yesterday. Bird Man actually does have a tattoo!”

As Ronan passed the pair, he noticed pale-haired boy’s smile widening. “So it’s not just a rumor?”

“Hell no it’s not!” the other boy cried. “I didn’t see the entire tattoo, but it was definitely there.”

Pale-haired boy laughed. “Maybe he has a tattoo of his bird.”

The other boy gave him an approving punch on the arm. “That’s perfect, Noah! Bird Man trying to be edgy with his bird tattoo,” he said and they both burst into laughter.

A discomforting feeling settled in Ronan as he walked away, the sound of the laughter tugging to the back of his uniform, where underneath his tattoo existed. _Are they laughing about me? Am _I_ the Bird Man? _At the idea, Ronan felt a bite of irritation. If they were talking about him, hadn’t the idiots seen him walking up to them? Why had they continued talking about him? And what did this Noah dude and his group of clowns think they knew about Ronan anyways?

He looked over his shoulder, ready to go back and confront this situation, but Noah and the other boy were already gone.

* * *

The next day, the nice weather persuaded Ronan’s gym teacher to let the class outside to play badminton on the courts. While badminton in comparison to tennis was very much a different game, Ronan found that his tennis skills came in handy. Plus, previous weeks of in-class practice had helped, except that didn’t leave him prone from making mistakes.

“That was my bad!” Ronan shouted to his teammates. “I hit it too hard. Let me go get it!”

He ran in the direction that he’d hit the shuttlecock.

As he approached the area, Ronan noticed Noah standing beneath a tree with two others boys. At the sight of them, Ronan frowned, but he kept his attention on the shuttlecock. It had landed in a bush, so he walked around it, trying to find where it was.

The sound of laughter rung in his ears.

_Do they ever stop laughing? _Ronan glared in the direction of Noah and the other two.

“I bet he has a thing for dudes!” one of the boys shouted.

At his words, Ronan froze.

“Nah,” the other boy shook his head. “He clearly has a thing for birds.”

The shouting boy burst into hysterical laughter. “Gross!”

Ronan broke out of his daze, suddenly realizing that Noah was looking over at him.

The moment he met Noah’s eyes a smile tugged at a corner of Noah’s lips, causing Ronan’s blood to run cold. A slow-churning fury built up in Ronan. He thought of the day before when Noah’s smile had widened when he’d passed by. There was no doubt that this bastard was orchestrating the whole entire Bird Man thing, egging on his oblivious followers and who knows what else. He thought to the shouting boy, about having a thing for dudes.

Ronan narrowed his eyes at Noah. Who was this guy and how long had it been since he tossed away any sense of decency?

“Lynch!” Ethan, one of Ronan’s badminton teammates, ran up to him. “Why are you taking so long? The shuttlecock is right there!”

Ronan ignored him. He turned his focus back to Noah and the other two losers, but they were already beginning to walk away.

Ethan let out a huff and grabbed the shuttlecock. “Come on, dude. We’re not here to stand around and do nothing.”

Ronan snatched the shuttlecock from Ethan’s hands and hit it hard towards the court, but it did little to subdue his anger.

* * *

“You’re in a grumpy mood,” Gansey commented.

“What are you talking about?” Ronan glared at the hellhole that was Aglionby Academy as Gansey found parking for the Pig. “I’m always in a grumpy mood in the mornings.”

Gansey’s eyebrows furrowed. “You’re in a grumpier mood than usual.”

“How can you even tell?” Ronan snapped.

“I…” Gansey pulled his keys out from the engine and turned to observe Ronan with concerned eyes. “I just can.”

“You just can?” Ronan was unimpressed. “What are you now, my mother?”

“Ronan—”

“Gansey, I’m not in a bad mood. Calm down—”

Through the windshield, Ronan caught sight of Noah approaching. Before he could stop himself, he was opening the door and getting out, tightening and loosening his hands as he walked up to Noah and his group.

The boys around Noah were shouting a chorus of “There’s the Bird Man! There he is!”

Ronan gritted his teeth.

Noah shook his head, but he laughed. “We shouldn’t be calling him that when he’s close enough to hear us.”

“For once,” Ronan growled, “you’re fucking right.” And then he shoved Noah hard in the chest.

There was a moment of nothing. Then, the air exploded in gasps and shouts as Noah fell onto the grass. His eyes wide with shock.

A hand grabbed hold of his arm and Ronan glared at the owner of the hand, who let go and hastily backed away, but not before asking, “Why the hell did you push Noah? He did nothing to you!”

“Ronan!” Gansey joined the group. He was about as stunned as Noah, who was still on the ground, staring at nothing and looking like he’d been accused guilty of the century’s worst crime.

“What are you acting so surprised about, you asshole?” Ronan demanded. “Just because I have a pet bird, you come up with some stupid nickname for me _and then_ you insulted my tattoo _and_—!” He faltered, not wanting to bring up yesterday. “You’re lucky I didn’t punch you instead!”

The other Aglionby boys burst into protests as Gansey gaped at Ronan in bewilderment.

Ronan had enough of it, but just as he was about to yell at everyone to shut up, Noah broke out of his shock and weakly said, “It—It’s all a misunderstanding.”

A laugh of disbelief fell flat from Ronan. “Bullshit.”

Noah shook his head and his eyes went downcast. His words were quiet and hurt. “It wasn’t about you.”

At that, the other boys began to back up his claim. “Yeah, this has nothing to do with you!” “The Bird Man isn’t even you!” “We were talking about a substitute teacher!” “Next time, stop and think before jumping to conclusions, you moron!”

As the horror of the truth came together, piece by agonizing piece, Ronan could not speak, could not move, could not hear nothing but the sound of his mistake as he fell back a step and watched Gansey help Noah to his feet. The others crowded around Noah and ushered him away. The whole time, Noah kept his face turned away and somehow this outright avoidance dug more into Ronan’s guilt than anything else could have.

In silence, Gansey stood with Ronan and watched Noah retreat with the others.

“What have I done?” Ronan asked.

Gansey glanced at him. Ronan knew he could’ve said many things—“you did the wrong thing”, “you were too rash”, “you didn’t think”, “you hurt someone who didn’t deserve it”—but instead, Gansey asked, “What are you going to do about it now?”

* * *

For the rest of the school day, Ronan tried finding Noah. At first, he asked others, but those who did know had heard of his terrible move that morning, and either gave him misleading answers or refused to answer at all. Whenever he did catch sight of Noah, Noah would avoid eye-contact and manage to get away. The dude had a knack for disappearing. Or in some cases, Noah would see him before Ronan could even notice Noah, and before he knew it, he’d only be met with the sight of Noah turning around a corner.

After school, Ronan decided to give the search one final, desperate attempt.

Gansey didn’t even question him if he was sure about staying behind. Instead, he gave Ronan a sympathetic pat on the arm. “I hope he shows.”

Ronan tried not to worry. “Of course he will. He _has_ to. If it turns out that he doesn’t drive a car and it’s a no-show, I’ll try again tomorrow.”

Gansey gave him a half-hearted smile. “I’ll see you at Monmouth.”

Ronan nodded.

After Gansey had left, Ronan walked around in nervous circles, keeping his eyes peeled for a particular pale-haired boy.

Other boys came and went, but there was no sign of Noah. The parking lot was halfway to empty when Noah finally showed up, alone, his gaze seeming to scan around him for what Ronan knew could only be him.

Ronan tensed, but didn’t allow himself to hesitate as he ran up to Noah. “Hey!”

At his voice, Noah flinched, eyes widening as Ronan approached.

Ronan lowered his voice and slowed down. He came to a stop, not standing too close to Noah, but not too far away either. “Um, hi.”

Noah avoided eye-contact. “Why can’t you leave me alone?”

The question caught Ronan off-guard and an awful feeling gnawed a bigger hole in his chest.

Noah’s jaw tightened. “I wasn’t talking about you, okay? I’m sorry if it came off like I was, but I wasn’t, so stop—”

“I’m not here for an apology!” Ronan interrupted, a bit too loudly, and at the sight of Noah’s slight flinch, Ronan cursed himself. Lowering his voice, he quickly continued, “What I mean is that I’m here to apologize to _you_. I was in the wrong. I overheard things and thought I had the right to connect the dots and single you out for it. I made you the bad guy, because I couldn’t handle the thought of being made fun of. That was really stupid of me. I acted immaturely and I’m sorry for that. I’m really, really sorry.”

At this, Noah looked at him, and Ronan told himself to meet his eyes, show that he really meant what he said, but he turned his head to the side.

“Well, that’s all I wanted to say,” he began to turn away. “I’ll leave you alone now.”

As Ronan walked away, some small, hopeful, and idiotic part of him wanted Noah to call out to him, to acknowledge, to reply, to anything, but there was nothing. When he allowed himself a quick glance over his shoulder, Noah had already disappeared.

His steps were heavy as he made his way around the parking lot and started down the street. He debated calling Gansey, but quickly tossed aside the idea. He deserved to walk back to Monmouth. It could be some form of compensation for his shitty actions.

He didn’t notice the red Mustang until it pulled to a stop beside him.

The tinted windows rolled down and Noah was peering up at him. “Do you walk to school?” he asked.

Ronan was hit with the urge to apologize again, but he managed to give a sensible answer. “No, but I’m carless today, so walking’s the next best thing.”

Noah pursed his lips, thoughtful. “Couldn’t you call someone to come pick you up?”

Ronan shrugged. “Yeah, I could.”

“And you aren’t?”

“No.”

Noah undid his seatbelt and leaned forward to open the passenger-side door. “Get in.”

Ronan blinked, surprised. “What?”

“I’ll drive you.”

“Are you sure?”

“The door is opened.”

Ronan hesitated before finally walking around the front of the car and getting inside. He didn’t know what to say, so he busied himself with buckling his seatbelt before the words clumsily came. “Um, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Noah began driving down the road. “Right or left?”

Lamely, Ronan made a gesture towards the left. His mind was a mess of disbelief and astonishment. _How is this even possible?_

“Tell me whenever I have to make a turn,” Noah said.

Ronan looked out the window. “Do you know where 1136 Monmouth is?”

“Whoa, you live there?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s cool.”

“Thanks.”

They came to a stop at a red light.

Ronan forced himself to look away from the window and fumbled with the knotted leather bands beneath the sleeve of his Aglionby uniform. He’d never been this nervous before. It was a strange feeling.

“So what kind of pet bird do you have?” Noah asked as the light turned green.

“A raven,” Ronan said.

Noah looked over at him, impressed. “And you also have a tattoo?”

“Yeah,” Ronan nodded. “It’s on my back. And I may or may not have gotten it out of spite to get at my older brother.”

Noah laughed and Ronan found himself smiling. To his relief, he could feel some of his nerves subsiding.

“I don’t blame you for pushing me onto my ass this morning,” Noah said.

Ronan was surprised. “What? Why?”

“Given that not many people are tattooed bird-owners, it’s not your fault that you thought the Bird Man was you,” Noah explained.

“Yeah, but…” Ronan trailed off.

Noah turned to look at him. There was a small smile on his face. “Also, if it’s of any consolation, I forgive you.”

Ronan smiled back. “Can I be honest?”

Noah raised an eyebrow, curious. “Sure.”

“I’m glad you’re not a douchebag,” Ronan said.

“And I’m glad you’re not out to pulverize me.” Noah laughed.

Ronan joined in the laughter. “First impressions can be pretty misleading, can’t they?”

“Very.” Noah let go of his steering wheel with one of his hands and held it out. “I’m Noah, by the way. Noah Czerny.”

Ronan shook his hand, happy. “Ronan Lynch.”


End file.
